1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to orthopedic prostheses and, more particularly, to a provisional orthopedic prosthetic component that can be used to facilitate the selection of one of at least two differently configured permanent prosthetic components and the proper positioning of an instrument guide for preparing the bone that will receive the permanent prosthetic component.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of orthopedic implants to form artificial joints such as prosthetic knees is well known in the art. During a conventional surgical procedure to implant a prosthetic knee joint, a provisional femoral component and a provisional tibial component are placed on the distal femur and proximal tibia after resecting the distal femur and proximal tibia to confirm the proper size and position of the permanent femoral and tibial components. The provisional components typically come in a range of sizes which are identical in size and shape to the permanent components. The provisional components which are placed on the resected femur and tibia are typically selected after making a preliminary determination of the proper size. A trial reduction of the knee joint with the provisional components in place may indicate that the preliminary size determination was incorrect, that the gap between the femur and tibia is insufficient, or some other undesirable characteristic which requires the selection of a different sized tibial or femoral component thereby necessitating the further resection of either the tibia or femur.
When it is determined that the preliminary size determination of the femoral component is incorrect and the femur must be recut, the provisional component is removed. An instrument guide must then be properly located on the femur to recut the femur to receive the newly selected femoral component. After conducting another trial reduction to confirm the selection of the new prosthetic components, the newly selected prosthetic components are implanted.
Although this method of implanting an orthopedic prosthesis is satisfactory, an improved method reducing the number of required steps when the preliminarily selected prosthetic component size is changed would be desirable.